THE Kaduna State Government has prescribed castration, life imprisonment for rapists in the state following the passage of the amended Kaduna State Penal Code by the State Assembly.
Yusuf Ibrahim Zailani, Speaker of the Kaduna State Assembly, made this known in a tweet on his official twitter handle on Thursday.
“A bill to amend the Kaduna State Penal Court Law No.5 of 2017 has yesterday 09/09/2020 been pass into Law by @Kadlegislature. The Bill Recommend Total Castration for Rapist in the State,” the tweet read.
In an interview with the Channelstv, Musa Ahmed, the spokesperson for the Kaduna Sate House of Assembly stated the new punishment for sexual offenders in the state are part of the amendments to the penal code.
“Anyone convicted of rape will have his organ surgically removed so that even upon completion of his jail term, will not be able to commit the crime again,” Ahmed said.
Ahmed added that apart from castration, the amended penal code has prescribed life imprisonment for anyone found culpable to have raped a minor.
The new law, he further stated entails 21 years imprisonment for the rape of an adult.
Nasir el-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State had before the passage of the amendment called for the castration of rapists to curb the menace of rape in the state.
“In addition to life imprisonment or 21 years’ imprisonment, anyone convicted of rape will have his organ surgically removed so that even after he finishes his term, he will not be able to rape anyone again,” El-Rufai said.
“So long as the tool exists, there is the likelihood that he may go back to do it again. Most of the perpetrators are young people, so even after 21 years, they can come back and continue.”
Reacting to the amendment of the state penal code, the Kaduna State Ministry of Human Services and Social Development described the amendment as a ‘progress’.
In a tweet reply, the ministry said it was happy to know that the State Assembly has increased the punishment for rape urging the Judiciary to sentence more rapists to the maximum.
“Progress. We are happy to note that the @Kadlegislature has increased the punishment for rape. We trust that the judiciary will sentence more of these rapists to the maximum. We also assure that the @MOJKaduna & security agents will build strong cases against perpetrators,” the tweet read.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via labolade@icirnigeria.org, on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94